Richmonders got their first look at the five mayoral candidates at the first candidates forum of the June primary election season.
Challengers Ahmad Anderson, Claudia Jimenez, Demnlus Johnson and Mark Wassberg faced off against incumbent Mayor Eduardo Martinez in a Wednesday night Zoom forum hosted by the Marina Bay Neighborhood Council (MBNC).
The forum, which lasted about two hours, delved into citywide issues, such as the $550 million Chevron settlement, license plate readers and homelessness, as well as District 5 concerns including the future of the Craneway Pavilion and housing developments.
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Each candidate made a two-minute opening statement then answered five various questions by moderator and MBNC president Margarita Mitas. The opening statements included what candidates believe is the most critical issue facing the city.
All three non-Richmond Progressive Alliance aligned candidates, Anderson, Johnson and Wassberg, referenced public safety as the most critical issue while the RPA members, Jimenez and Martinez, referenced the Chevron settlement funds.
If you go
What: League of Women Voters candidates forum (mayoral and district races)
When: 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Mon., March 16
Where: Richmond City Council chambers, 440 Civic Center Plaza
More info: The forum will also be livestreamed via Zoom, i.d. 894 2523 5268; submit questions here
“Public safety is one of my No. 1 priorities,” Anderson said. “If folks don’t feel safe to eat, work and live in your community then sustaining businesses that bring forth economic development and revenue to the city, and also workforce development to provide jobs, then it becomes a non-issue.”
Johnson, another one of the moderate candidates running in the race, said that he believes the city’s biggest priority should be working “for all,” beginning with public safety, the city’s pension obligations and overall economic development.
“Those are some of the major things that we have to address in order to make sure that we have a functioning city for all, not just for a select few or a small group, but for everyone here in the city of Richmond,” Johnson said.
Wassberg referenced the “defunding” of the Richmond police as the issue he would address first if elected. In 2021, the then-Richmond City Council reallocated $3 million from the department due to vacancies and used it to fund alternative responses to law enforcement.
“People talk about jobs and the economy but if you don’t have a safe city then people won’t come,” he said. “The police are working overtime. All the money they’re spending on overtime, they could hire more cops.”
Richmond has seen a historic plunge in homicides in the last decade, reaching a record low in 2025 with just six. Though overall violent crime decreased from 1,446 incidents in 2024 to 1,208 in 2025, some crimes, such as sexual assaults, have increased in recent years. There were 139 reported sexual assaults in 2025, up from 81 in 2021.
For Jimenez, the most important issue facing the city is ensuring that the Chevron settlement is spent wisely, given that it’s a “once-ina-generation” opportunity. Jimenez and Martinez were both on the ad-hoc committee that won the settlement.
“If we invest carefully, we can create a strong return for the city and provide a higher level of services in the city,” she said, pointing to the fact that the funds will only be coming during the next 10 years. “To do that, we need to learn from experts in other cities and listen closely to our residents about how they want to see those resources invested.”
Martinez said that “diversifying the economy” is the city’s most important issue. Since his election in 2022, the port’s development has been a focal point for Martinez, who helped draft the proposed “Green Blue New Deal,” which looks to implement projects such as off-shore wind turbines and manufacturing of ships powered by those turbines as well as smaller-scale shoreline ecotourism and surplus food rescue projects.
“We need good jobs, well-paying jobs and we need jobs that will bring in the funds that we will be missing if and when Chevron leaves,” Martinez said.
What do the candidates think about Flock?
City leaders have recently been figuring out what to do with its Automate License Plate Reader (ALPR) system. This technology, which is owned by a company called Flock, is used by local law enforcement agencies nationwide to instantly capture plate images.
In December, Richmond police Chief Tim Simmons turned off the city’s ALPR cameras after learning that some of the data was externally accessible through a back-door software feature.
The issue was discussed at the March 3 city council meeting and is set to be on this Tuesday’s agenda for a decision.
Some opponents of the city’s Flock cameras have said that the city should not do business with the company because its reported data breaches could affect undocumented residents if federal agencies were to gain access to Richmond data.
Jimenez said that’s her concern.
“I believe that police need tools. I don’t agree with Flock as a company,” she said. “What they did was to make us violate our own sanctuary policies. You can’t trust a company that does that and acts in bad faith.”
Martinez also said he disagrees with continuing the city’s relationship with Flock and suggested the city seek another local option.
“People talk about buying local,” Martinez said. “There are companies, surveillance companies, who do the same work as Flock but do it here in California.”
The three other candidates all stated they support the use of ALPR cameras by the police department.
Johnson slammed the current mayor and council member for not deciding to turn on the ALPR system after they were told March 3 it might help police locate a missing, sex-trafficked teen.
“I support the use of Flock and ALPRs here in the city,” Johnson said. “Ulike the current council member and mayor on the call, who were approached to turn on the cameras to find a missing teenager. Even after studies have shown that data in the state of California is not shared with out of state agencies. California is an anti-ICE state so to suggest that is ludicrous.”
Wassberg pushed back on the idea that local authorities could limit ICE enforcement in sanctuary policies if the federal government decided to come to Richmond, pointing to the why Simmons turned off the cameras in the first place.
“California is not anti-ICE,” Wassberg said. “You can’t stop ICE.”
Anderson, who echoed the detail of the missing teen, who Simmons said in a police commission meeting was from Stanislaus County, said he believed that the council did not do enough during the March 3 meeting, criticizing District 5 council member Sue Wilson, who said on the dais that she could not be available for a meeting the next day due to a scheduled trip.
“We had people needing to go on trips while people’s lives were in jeopardy,” Anderson said, also pushing back on Wassberg’s claims and adding that regardless of documented status everyone deserves to feel safe. “We turned our backs (on the missing teen) and the cameras off but we need to turn them on. We need to make the decisions that make our community safe all around.”
Read more primary election news in Richmondside’s voters guide.
